A Food & Pastry Blog

Homemade Marshmallows

OK, so it’s not exactly hot chocolate season. Here in New York, the temperatures been close to 80 for the past few days. But it is build-a-bonfire-on-the-beach-and-make-s’mores season, no? And is an excuse really necessary for making these little puffs of sugary goodness?

I used Martha Stewart’s recipe here, but as I had vanilla beans on hand–and since I love their flavor and the look of their little black specks–I substituted them for vanilla extract in the recipe. I’m going to try dipping some of them in dark chocolate as well–results to follow.

Combine gelatin and 1/2 cup cold water in the bowl of an electric mixer with whisk attachment. Let it stand 30 minutes.

Combine granulated sugar, corn syrup, salt and 1/2 cup of water in a small heavy saucepan; place over low heat and stir until sugar has dissolved. (Note: it’s least messy if you put the water in the pan first, then add the sugar, salt and corn syrup. That goes for any sugar syrup or for making caramel-always put the water in the pan first.) Wash down sides of pan with a wet pastry brush to dissolve sugar crystals.

With mixer on low speed, slowly and carefully pour syrup into the softened gelatin. At this point, the smell is going to be less than entirely pleasant. In fact, rather like a wet dog. Never fear, though: increase the speed to high; beat until mixture is very thick and white and has almost tripled in volume, about 15 minutes. Add vanilla and voila! goodbye, wet dog smell, hello, vanilla. Beat to incorporate. And what you’ll have is basically marshmallow fluff.